Wrapped Around My Finger by Kristen Strassel Read Free Book Online Page B

terribly.
    It had only been a week since he’d been gone. We’d talked every night, but it wasn’t the same as having him with me. Feeling his fingertips brush against my skin, his warm breath on my lips just before he kissed me.
    I made myself snap out of it. “I’ll keep you in enough wine that you won’t complain.”
    Reno grinned at her. “Your reputation precedes you.”
    “You’re talking to the woman who created it.” Kari let go of Reno and squeezed my hand. “Girls night soon. I miss you.”
    **
    R eno Romano was not the most intimidating person I’d meet with that day. Juggling two TV shows was more work than I ever expected, and Raven had locked herself in her room by the time I came home every night that week. Every night I’d talked at her door, and shuffled back to my bedroom with burning eyes and an aching heart when she brushed me off.
    Not tonight .
    I cleared the rest of my schedule as a work-at-home day. Raven’s mouth dropped when she walked into the living room after school and saw me sitting there. I was working on Reno’s design with my favorite eighties hair bands blaring from my computer as my soundtrack.
    I shut the music down. “Want to get cupcakes?”
    Raven hesitated.
    “Come on. You’re never mad enough to say no to chocolate.”
    She fought her smile, but the corners of her mouth betrayed her. “You’re right.”
    One of the reasons I loved living in the city was we could actually walk to things. It wasn’t obnoxiously cold out that day. On the way there, I attempted small talk, testing the waters. She opened up more than I expected, telling me about her new graphic design class. I had no idea what she was talking about, but that wasn’t the point. She was actually talking. To me.
    I waited until we ordered to get down to business.
    “Listen, I know you’re having a hard time with how I met Jagger. I struggled with it, too. Remember how upset I was after the reunion?”
    Her eyes widened behind her cupcake. She’d been about to take a bite. “You want to talk about this here?”
    “Not particularly, but this is the only place you won’t run off on me.” I sighed. “No one’s paying any attention to us. I can’t stand the silence anymore, Raven. I don’t need your permission to live my life, but I want you to understand my choices.”
    Her gaze fell to her plate. She was clearly uncomfortable.
    “I was your age when I started dating your father. The playing field was even back then. Everybody was starting out, having all their firsts at the same time, and making mistakes. I felt pretty smug about my life choices since I married the first guy who asked me on a date. I got it right. Things were really good—until they weren’t. I don’t have to tell you about that part. You were there. Leaving your father was the absolute scariest thing I ever did. I was taking you out of your home. All I’d ever had was a part-time job a kid could do. But I couldn’t live with someone who treated me like that. I was angry and bitter. Not so much about Shelley—she can have him—but about all the time I realized I wasted. Not standing up for myself. Keeping my mouth shut when I should’ve spoken up. And once I’m back in that environment, it’s easy to slip back into my old habits.”
    “What does this have to do with Jagger?”
    I licked frosting off my fingers. I hadn’t meant to go off on a tangent, but it all made sense. “I’ve been dating the whole time we’ve lived in Washington.” I totally expected the nose wrinkle. “Trying to, anyway. The playing field isn’t so even anymore. We’ve all got baggage and things we regret at this stage of the game. There’s usually a reason why someone’s starting over, even if they don’t know what it is yet. I hope you never have to date in your thirties. To make a long story short, it sucks. Eventually, I gave up, figuring what was meant to be was meant to be. But there was no way I was going to that reunion alone.